Raneo "Ranie" Enriquez Abu (born May 12, 1967) is a Filipino politician serving as the Representative of

Batangas's 2nd congressional district Batangas's 2nd congressional district is one of the six congressional districts of the Philippines in the province of Batangas. It has been represented in the House of Representatives of the Philippines since 1916 and earlier in the Philippine As ...

from 2013 to 2022. He served as the

Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines The deputy speakers of the House of Representatives of the Philippines are the second highest-ranking officials of the House of Representatives of the Philippines. During the absence of the House speaker, one of the House deputy speakers will pr ...

from 2016 until his removal on 2020.

Early life

Raneo Abu was born on May 12, 1967. He completed elementary and high school education in public schools in

Bauan Bauan, officially the Municipality of Bauan (), is a municipality in the province of Batangas, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 90,819 people. Etymology Bauan derived its name from the following Tagalog wor ...

. In college, he took up general engineering at

Batangas State University Batangas State University, The National Engineering University (; BatStateU The NEU) is a State university and college (Philippines), state university in the province of Batangas, Philippines. Established in 1903 as a training school, Batangas S ...

(formerly Pablo Borbon Memorial Institute of Technology) in 1984 to 1985 before transferring to

University of Batangas The University of Batangas (UB; ), is a private university, basic and higher education institution located in Batangas City, Philippines. Founded in 1946 as ''Western Philippine College'', it is the oldest university and second-oldest educational ...

(formerly Western Philippine Colleges) to take up

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

from 1986 to 1989. He was a working student, notably at an ice plant every summer. However, he dropped off from the university to help his parents by working.

Political career

Committee Support Services Division of the Philippine Senate (1990–1992)

Abu's stint in government service started in 1988 when he became a youth development assistant in the office of then-

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Vicente Mayo. He also worked as a photocopying attendant at the Committee Support Services Division of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

from 1990 to 1992.

Municipal Councilor of Bauan (1992–1995)

In 1992, he ran as municipal councilor of

and won. However, he served for only one term as he did not seek re-election in 1995 because his father was dying of

liver cancer Liver cancer, also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy, is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary in which the cancer starts in the liver, or it can be liver metastasis, or secondar ...

Post-municipal councilorship (1995–2013)

Instead, his father asked him to help

Hermilando Mandanas Hermilando Ingco "Dodo" Mandanas (born March 25, 1944) is a Filipino politician who has served as the 21st governor of Batangas since 2016. Mandanas previously served in this position from 1995 to 2004. He served as a Member of the House of Re ...

, who was then running for governor in 1995. Abu served as executive assistant for Mandanas, a position that he kept until 2004 when he was appointed supervising political affairs officer in the House of Representatives under the office of Mandanas, who was then elected representative of the 2nd district of Batangas.

House of Representatives (2013–2022)

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, Abu ran for representative of the 2nd district of Batangas under

Nacionalista Party The Nacionalista Party (Filipino language, Filipino and Spanish language in the Philippines, Spanish: ''Partido Nacionalista''; , NP) is a political party in the Philippines which is the oldest existing party in the country and in Southeast Asi ...

and won. He defeated

board member A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulations ...

and actor

Christopher de Leon Christopher Strauss de León (born October 31, 1956), also known as Boyet, is a Filipino actor, filmmaker and politician. Often referred to as the "King of Philippine Drama", he gained stardom for his leading man roles in numerous film and te ...

of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

and Godofredo Berberabe of the

United Nationalist Alliance The United Nationalist Alliance (UNA ) is a political party in the Philippines. It was created as a multi-party electoral alliance replacing the former United Opposition (UNO) coalition for the 2013 midterm elections, before it was launched ...

. He was re-elected in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

and in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

. On July 10, 2020, Abu was one of the 70 representatives who voted to "yes" to deny the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN. In January 2021, Abu is announced to be part of the new bloc "''BTS sa Kongreso''" (named after the

K-pop K-pop (; an abbreviation of "Korean popular music") is a form of popular music originating in South Korea. It emerged in the 1990s as a form of youth subculture, with Korean musicians taking influence from Western Electronic dance music, danc ...

boy band group

BTS BTS (), also known as the Bangtan Boys, is a South Korean boy band formed in 2010. The band consists of Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook, who co-write or co-produce much of their material. Originally a hip hop group, they ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

), a coalition group formed by Taguig–Pateros Representative and former House Speaker

Alan Peter Cayetano Alan Peter Schramm Cayetano ( Tagalog pronunciation: ajɛˈtano born October 28, 1970) is a Filipino lawyer, diplomat, and politician serving as a senator since 2022 and previously from 2007 to 2017. He was the Senate Minority Leader from 2 ...

during the 18th Congress. In

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, Abu is already in term limit as a congressman. He endorsed his daughter, Reina Abu to succeed him but she lost to Gerville Luistro.

2025 House of Representatives election

Abu ran again for congressman in

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

but lost to his successor, incumbent Gerville Luistro.

Personal life

Abu is married to Maria Paz Dolor, who has worked as a domestic helper in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, with whom he has three children. Their eldest daughter, Maria Reina Abu-Reyes, is a physician by profession who is also in politics, being the board member-elect of Batangas from 2nd district, having been elected in

, and the unsuccessful candidate for representative of the same district in

. On March 25, 2021, Abu tested positive for COVID-19.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abu, Raneo 1967 births Living people Members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from Batangas Nacionalista Party politicians Politicians from Batangas Filipino city and municipal councilors Filipino Roman Catholics Deputy speakers of the House of Representatives of the Philippines